Leaderboard

Several years ago I had a female client with a newborn. After 30 to 40 minutes into the interview she began to nurse her baby. No blankee, no towel, no cover up no modesty. Now I know some of ya will say....It's just natural....Which its was, and that's how I viewed it..... I sure had a story for my wife over supper that night.

We have been sleeping on my office floor, and I have grill marks on my @$$ from rolling over the floor vents, but I am very thankful for a warm place to stay. I took the ice out of the freezer at home yesterday because I thought it might start melting. It's still in cube form in the sink this morning. I met the energy company on the way back to work with three light poles, you better believe I waved. Here's a pic of the average of every road in our county:

I'd be glad he had his guns confiscated! I work from home; don't want crazies.

When I worked for someone else, we had a no smoking policy. A client asked to smoke and when I showed her the sign, she lit one up, opened the window and flicked the ashes in her purse. I was young and scared to death of her anyway, so I just sat there and prayed for her to leave. She and her husband were plowed at the time, also.

I had a TP once asked me if our office had coffee, I said yes, but the person who makes the coffee does not come in today, they said no problem and made it themselves.

I'm nominating your guy for craziest. Nothing I've encountered so far this year tops him, and I'm hoping to God that it stays that way.

I also worked through college and paid back student loans for nearly 15 years after graduating. Not paying them was never an option. I borrowed the money and paying it back was the legally and socially/morally the right thing to do. I'm proud to say that I have instilled that same sense of honor and moral character in my daughter who has started repaying her student loans. Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying that this kid/client had a choice...from what he is telling me, the bank was not willing to work with him at all..but it bothers me that he thinks he should be able to walk away from the debt without suffering at all. This sense of entitlement that is common in the younger generation is worrisome.

DITTO!!! I guess we took the wrong path having ethics, morals and a sense of responsibility for ourselves. It also appears that we are quickly becoming the minority in America.

I had a new customer come by yesterday; he looked like a cross between ZZ Top and Duck Dynasty. He reeked of Tabaco and had all his tax returns going back to 2000 and wanted to show me all of them. I told him all I need is last years. He asked about Casualty Theft and Loss; he said the police raided his home and confiscated all his guns. He said the guns were legal in FL but not NJ. He was told the guns were destroyed by the police, and then he slammed his hand down and said the township stole his guns and he want to deduct them. I explained it wasn’t deductible. He need to get more paperwork and said he would be back. He stopped by today with his property tax information and receipts for his father’s funeral expenses and asked if he could deduct the expenses that totaled $7,000. I explained he cannot deduct the expenses on his return, but it would be deductible on his father estate return if one needed to be filed. (one doesn’t need to be filed) He continues to say he paid for the food also for all those people, can I write it off as a company picnic. I said no. He looked at me like I was crazy. Do people really think we as preparers will lie and cheat for them? Total strangers but we’ll lie and help them cheat on their taxes. So what are some of your craziest customers and or request?

This is going off-topic pretty far and bringing politics into the discussion once again. I've had a request to lock the topic, but anyone that wants to discuss guns and shooting could start a new topic and leaving out the politics. My husband has several coworkers that have built their own guns. That is perfectly legal to do here and to own and shoot them, but not OK to sell them. Last time he was at the range with them he tried one out and I think he'd like one too. He's not too subtle about dropping hints about prezzies he'd like to have. lol

Rita -- I am so glad that YOU are safe. And BTW -- the photo is beautiful. Scary to think of living with/through, but taken as art it's just wonderful. Once we get to May, you might think of having it printed and framed.

No worries, called QB tech support and received some of the greatest news, QB online is not recommended for accountants use (I am a Pro advisor). Unless you have a lot of time on your hands.

Back in 1970-74 I was fresh out of the Air Force, my wife and I were attending college, and I was working a part time job to help support us and our newborn baby. Between the GI bill, my part-time work, and lots college loans we scraped by. My brother-in-law who worked for Social Services kept telling me we qualified for food stamps, and that "everybody was doing it". I kept refusing to apply because our financial difficulties were a result of lifestyle decisions we made to get an education in anticipation of a better future. I felt that food stamps and other welfare programs should go to the truly needy. It took us 15 years to pay off some of the college loans - just in time to go another round of loans when our daughter went to college. If I had it to do all over, I wouldn't do anything differently, but I realize we were (and still are) chumps in terms of what our culture embraces today.

Absolutely. I worked summers as a waitress back in the 80s and paid for college that way. It was doable, too. Tuition is ridiculous now because of all the easy money we throw at everybody. So the price goes up. Of course it does. Paying for three to go has been tough. And, it makes my kids sick, too, to see some of their friends MAKE money on grants.

Tom is exactly right. This is a 'capital lease', often called a lease-purchase.

Filing the 8606 does not create basis, making a contribution and not taking a deduction for it does. Filing the 8606 only tells the IRS what you have done. But the transaction still stands on its substance. If you can determine the amounts of the non-deductible contributions, that is the basis. Think of it this way, if the taxpayer was selling his home and had made significant improvements to the home, would you allow him to add them to basis? Sure you would, if you could figure out how much it was that he spent on the improvements. Can you figure out and document the contributions in the intervening years? If so, that is what you should use. You should be able to get the brokerage to give you the amounts added every year. They should have that record. Then pull a transcript for the years you can from the IRS and see what he deducted. Not easy, but doable. I would not even consider a 3115. Tom Newark, CA

And due to the "DC vs Heller" and "McDonald vs Chicago" decisions at the SCOTUS, one should just be able to walk into any court and get this sort of crap instantly overturned. No level of government in these united states (federal, state, county or municipal) has the power to deny you your right to keep and bear arms. It's not even debatable at this point; it's firmly settled law. What NJ did to that man was unconstitutional.

Aww, thank you, Catherine, and everybody. My daughter took the photo, and one of my sons cut that tree off the road, and there are volunteers all over doing that. My church is Red Cross warming center. Very thankful and everything is going well, all things considered. The energy company did not get to my road yesterday, but I met them again this morning. So much to be done, but everything is good.

I support the ENTIRE Constitution of the United States. Including the Second Amendment.

If the cops took MY legally owned firearms and destroyed them, I'd look more than a little crazy too. Those are EXPENSIVE pieces of machinery, and to have them stolen and destroyed by the government (at gunpoint, by the way; the government does *everything* by gunpoint) would make me so furious you would *not* want to be around me.

Yell and protest at everything till they get frustrated enough to connect you. The process is such a crock of male bovine scat to get to a high level tech. The one "customer service" girl named "Precious" knows my name now and does NOT like me!! It is the only method of contacting a top level tech.

I actually feel bad for this man. He's had a pretty tough year. As long as I don't feel personally threatened, I'm ok with eccentrics. Good luck.

How I wish I had video of this guy.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to say: You ahem "win", mrichmann333.

The commissons from the store should have been on her W 2. Her employer is trying to avoid the employment taxes.

Remove the dead printer from your system in "Devices and printers."

Just makes me sick. I paid 100% for my education, went part time. I applied for no aid. WHAT WAS I THINKING! Maybe that my fellow citizens are not responsible for my higher education

"Why is my refund $30 less than last year?" 1460 vs. 1430. $6,000 extra W-2 income...

Just received this e-mail... After reading it, I will paper file any that have this error. It will probably be resolved on April 10... -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 02/24/2015 4:46 PM To: Subject: RE: IRS reject code F1040-429 still a problem [interactionID:e6f12155-262b-4cb2-9448-2d0bb6696b55] Good afternoon, At the current time, we are still working with the IRS to resolve the erroneous rejects caused by this issue. We have not yet reached a resolution. I will post the link to the blog article that will be updated when a resolution has been reached. http://myatx.blogspot.com/2015/02/8962-rejects-f1040-0428-f1040-0429.html If you need further assistance, please contact our customer support department at 1-800-638-8291. Thank you for using ATX, Jamonte' Thomas Customer Service Level III CCH Small Firms Services, a Wolters Kluwer business 225 Chastain Meadows Court NW Suite 200 Kennesaw, GA 30144 phone- 800-638-8291 fax-888-815-7587 [email protected]

No, this one is pretty unavoidable.

His original post said "the paving is keeping the property in it's original condition", so it is not an improvement, it's maintenance.

Wish I could help, but after I reviewed the instructions for Form 8960, I wanted to throw up!

This is a known IRS issue that ATX has not found a fix for. I have had one with that error since 2-11-15. Paper file. That is what I did.

You should treat this as a purchase and capitalize and depreciate. As well, I would create an amortization schedule for all the payments, busting out the interest from the purchase price of the equipment. The contractor should know what the purchase price is of the equipment and it should be easy to take the "rent" payments and get to the principal and interest on the amort schedule. The interest should be currently deductible and the rest depreciated. I have done many of these in my position in the construction industry. Tom Newark, CA

Nice find! Thanks for sharing!

Sort of unrelated, but this thread made me think of my guy, who came in the day after dropping off his return to ask me: Oh, yeah, I'm retiring early. What am I going to do about health insurance? Beg pardon? I was calm on the outside, but on the inside I killed three people. Insurance salespeople, Nancy, and POTUS make a lot more than me, and you are asking me this question????? I pretty much told him (in my sweet way): I don't have any insurance to sell, affordable or otherwise, so if you're looking for me to solve this problem, I guess you better keep working, Buddy.

There was a really great article in Forbes today and it was put in a q/a conversation between the author a tax preparer that was funny also. http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2015/02/14/repair-regulation-relief-what-does-it-really-mean-not-as-much-as-you-think/

I haven't had any rentals for a year or two. However, a client for a few years went to HRB last year but is back to me this year with an out-of-state rental. I already told her she's going on extension and why. I took a free two-hour webinar Friday that's probably in their archives: CPAacademy.org -- 2014 Updates to the Tangible Property Repair Regulations. The IRS announcement came during the webinar, so was mentioned but not covered. The two speakers were from KBKG who does cost segregation studies, among other things, so I was expecting it to be for bigger clients than mine. However, they did talk about what they suggest for their small clients as opposed to their large. Very practical advice, Catherine (and Everyone): A couple of things that came up -- 1. For those amounts not appropriate for a cost segregation study, the IRS allows "any reasonable method," such as using the Producer Price Index discounted to the placed-in-service year or the free KBKG PPI Asset Search Tool on their website: www.kbkg.com/ppi-search-tool 2. Enhancement due to technological advancements is not necessarily betterment. Example: HVAC equipment is always going to be more efficient. So, the question is really just "is it comparable with the old"?

If I hit that 500m lottery, I sure as heck won't be worrying about clients, the ACA, or repair regs and the 3115 ever again. Maybe I'd even hire someone else to prepare my returns.

Agree with that. We do our job, if clients do not do what is required and "choose" the penalty, we can not force them NOR should we have to.

I tell people: Did you have insurance last year? they say no. I say... You will have to pay a penalty this year. and they answer no problem. I say... for next year, you should have health insurance or the penalty will be double or more. They say, no problem. I go and prepare this year's taxes because that's what they hire me for. I don't sell insurance and I am not in a position to force them to buy health insurance.

By your reasoning, Pacun, it makes sense for anyone to pay the penalty rather than purchase health insurance as long as the penalty is less than the cost of the health insurance. Nobody, no matter how healthy, can be sure they won't get sick or be in an accident and need medical care. That is why we have insurance. And when people without insurance get sick or injured and need care they can't afford, many times hospitals and medical practices wind up providing that care without getting paid. And that drives up medical costs for all of us.

Until they have an accident or get really sick. But then, many will just look for the "program" that will pay those bills for them too. I do not like being told I have too -- on most anything BUT some things I can understand --- car insureance, fire insurance, etc., etc. as it the burden is not only on me but on someone else ---- now if those folks just wanted to NOT be card for, etc. and possibly die ---- but there are "programs" for that too and in some cases --- the government even makes it illegal to chose to die ---- unless by cop maybe === but then the poor officer gets grief ---- usually more from them having to take a life (self incrimination, etc.) even when the "public" takes them to task for doing their duty --- but I am biased due to "pass life". Bottom line, if they can "work" the system and save money --- they are allowed --- but it does not make it right to pass the bill onto others, if it can be prevented. AND NO --- I am not in favor of ACA as current --- some great ideas and some fair "fixes" but NOT done as congress has. (Thant is another discussion and has nothing to do with "politics" just common sense and doing what is best for country, not just to get noticed and have a job.